Improvement in ironing-tables



NI D; STATES Pn'rnNr @rrrcn.

nNooH s. FAR-SON, or PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN tRONlNG-TABLES.

1 Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 145,162, dated December 2, 1873; application filed October 28, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ENOCH S. FARSON, of the city of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, have invented a Portable Folding Ironing-Stand, of which the follom'ng is'a specification .The object of my invention is to produce a light folding ironing-stand for household use that will automatically cause the forward pair of legs to incline outward as the forwardend of the board is raised upward by hand, and

support the said legs and board firmly in said inclined positions for the purpose of afiording a wider space between the said legs and board, and thus facilitate in slipping on and off the board such circular articles as ladies skirts or dresses, and so, also, as to cause the said forward-inclined legs to be drawn inward at their upper ends to their original position as the said board, when tripped by hand, falls into its original horizontal position.

Figure l is a perspective view of the stand, with a detachable apron for supporting the ironed or free portions of wide skirts, &c., out of contact with a floor or carpet during the operation of ironing the same. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the under side of the stand folded into the flat compact condition required for setting aside, or for shipment, the apron not being shown. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the apron and its supporting-bars, detached from the stand androlled up together into a small, compact condition.

p The ironing-board A is supported upon two pairs of legs, B B and B B. The upper ends of the legs B B are connected to the lower ends of the legs B B by means of two bars, 0 O, which are articulated to the legs, respectively, by means of the respective rounds 2 and 3 of the legs,'so as to allow the free motions required of the said legs and bars, as will hereinatter be explained. The broad or rear end of the board A is secured to the upper end of the rear pair of legs B B by means of eyes or metallic clasps 4 at fixed to the under side of the board A, and receiving through them the upper round 5 of the rear legs B B, so as to serve as a hinge-joint for the required motions of the parts, as will be hereinafter described. At a short distance in advance of the rear legs B B there is articulated to the under side of the board A, at a, a knee jointed frame, D D, the lower bars of which are articulated to the two bars 0 C, respectively, by means of the round 62. Articulated to the lower roiuid cl there is a bar or tie-rod, E, the lower end of which is articulated to the lower round 0 of the forward legs B B. In Fig. 1 the near side bar 0 is cut away, in part, so as to show the tie-rod E. A pair of bracing-arms, G G, ofa single piece of stiff springy wire, bent for the purpose, is articulated to the under edges, respectively, of the side bars 0 O, and the bent ends hook into appropriate holes through the legs B B, and thus keep the said legs firmly in the upright position when the stand is in use. The distance between the rounds d and d is precisely the same as that between the rounds 3 and 6, (see Fig.1,) and consequently the parallelism. between the legs B B and the lower frame of the knee-joint D will be maintained during the movements of either. The length of the knee-jointed frame D D, when the upper and the lower portions of the same are aligned, is such that the board will be allowed to be raised, as shown by the dotted lines o c, to allow a skirt, dress, or other endless or similar article, to be readily slipped over the free end of the said board. The dotted lines '21 0) indicate the required position of said board for the purpose just named, as well as for the purpose of removing the skirt or dress after it has been ironed. All the foregoing-named parts are permanently secured together, as represented in the drawings. The apron F is detachable, and is tacked fast to two supporting-rods, f f, which are inserted horizontally into suitable holes in the legs B B and bars 0 C, respectively, so as to support the apron F in the horizontal position shown in Fig. 1, for supporting the ironed portion of the article under the process a little above or clear of the floor of the room.

It will be readily understood, without any further description, that, by raising the forward end of the board A until it is checked by the alignment of the two parts of the kneejoint D D, the forward legs B B will be drawn inward at their lower ends, and consequently thrown outward at their new free upper ends,

as indicated by the dotted lines w w, and that the said board A will be held firmly in the inclined posit-ion indicated by the dotted lines o c by the aligned parts of the knee-joint D D, thus leaving the hands of the operator entirely free for slipping the skirt or dress either upon or off of the said board. In order to cause the board A and the legs B B to resume their former positions, as shown in Fig. 1, the operator has only to start the knee-joint out of the alignment by simply tripping it backward by a slight touch of the hand, and the board falls upon the upper ends of the legs B B, which have simultaneously become inclined inward, and is thus held firmly, as shown in Fig. 1. The apron F, it will also be seen, can be readily attached and detached, as occasion may require.

In folding the stand for shipment, transportation, or setting aside, the apron F is first withdrawn and rolled up, as indicated in Fig. 3, then the stand turned upon its side or back, and the legs B B B B, the wire brace G, kneejointed frame D, D, and the connecting-bars G O, and tie-bar v under side of the board A, as, represented. by Fig. 2. In this folded condition the stand occupies much less room, can be shipped at proportionably less cost for freight, and, being light in weight, can be easily lifted and hung up or set aside out of the way in a dwelling.

As a modification of the ,mode shown of throwing the upper ends of the forward legs E folded together againstthe tie-bar E, I intend, in some cases, to substitute girting or webbing for said tie-bar, and another piece of said girting or webbing attached to the same legs B B, and to the same lower frame of the kneejointed device, at points respectively at the same distance above the rounds d and 3 as the points 0 and d are below the same, as indicated by the dotted lines x y y in Fig. 1, whereby the legs B B will be drawn inward and outward by the said girtingor webbing, alternately stretched by lowering and raising the board A, as before described.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination, with the boardA, hinged to the rear legs B B substantially in the man ner described, the knee-jointed frame D D, the swinging or vibrating legs B B, and the tiebar' E, the said parts being arranged to operate substantially as and for the purposes here'- inbefore set forth and described.

2. The combination, with the side pieces 0 G and rear legs B B, of the apron F with its rods f f substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth and described.

ENOOH Fimsort Witnesses:

BEN-L, MomsoN,

Wm. H. Memos.

B B outward and inward by means of I the rigid 

